Easy opening container



J. H. NUTE ETAL EASY OPENING CONTAINER De c. 17, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Y V Filed Feb. 7, 1955 NEY Dec. 17, 1957 N'uT ETAL 2,816,699

EASY OPENING CONTAINER Filed Feb. 7, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1% I 2 2 za zz i United States Patent EASY OPENlNG CONTAINER Jay H. Nute, Lynwood, and Henry A. L. Thomas, Oakland, Calif., assignors to The Patent and Licensing Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 7, 1955, Serial No. 486,384

2 Claims. (Cl. 229-51) The present invention relates to a container, preferably a shipping container, which may be opened easily. This is a. continuation-in-part of our copending application, Serial No. 423,072, filed April 14, 1954, now Patent No. 2,713,454.

In containers of corrugated and solid fiber paperboard customarily used for shipping articles such as canned foods, the container is ordinarily a regular slotted carton glued at the overlapped top and bottom flaps over large areas so that it is rather difficult to open the box by pulling on the top flaps. Sometimes a sharp device is used to completely cut oil the top of the box, but besides requiring the availability of the cutting instrument, a possibility of damage to the contents exists. Various modifications of the containers have been proposed to facilitate opening, such as installing tear strips in the container, but such devices are expensive and not always completely satisfactory in opening the box. It is also ofttimes desirable to remove only a small portion of the contents, and in that event, it is desirable that the top of the container remain intact and be available for folding back to close the container. In addition, it is desirable to have a neatly opened box for use as a carry-out box by the customer. Alternatively, it may be desirable to remove the top for display purposes or for ease in marking the merchandise.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device for easily opening containers having overlapping glued flaps.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for easily and neatly opening containers having overlapping glued flaps wherein no portion of the container is necessarily removed.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a container having overlapping glued flaps which may be easily opened and which may have substantially the whole top neatly removed for display purposes.

These and other objects are achieved by the present invention. The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the attached drawings illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention, but it will be understood that variations and substitutions may be made within the scope of the claims. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a container blank;

Fig. 2 is :a perspective view of the blank of Fig. 1 assembled, but with the top only partially closed;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the container illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 with the top completely closed;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the lines 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional enlargement of one corner of the container illustrated at Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the container with the top torn open, and;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 2 of an alternative container with the cover partially closed.

With reference to the drawings, it will be seen that there is illustrated a modified slotted carton comprising 2,816,699 Patented Dec. 17, 19 57 side walls 10 and 11 and end walls 12 and 13, each defined from the other by fold or score lines 15. Continuous with the walls 10, 11, 12 and 13, and defined therefrom by fold lines 15, are the bottom flaps 16. Continuous with side walls 10 and 11 are outer top flaps 17 and 18, respectively defined from the walls 10 and 11 by fold lines 15, and containing perforated tear lines 19, preferably located nearer the fold line than the outer edge of the flap.

Continuous with ends 12 and 13 and separated therefrom by fold lines 15, are inner top flaps 21, each comprising two substantially equal portions or tabs 22 divided by a slot 23 and extending from the outer edge of the flap inwardly to a perforated tear line 24 which may, in the blank, be continuous with tear lines 19 in the flaps 17' and 18. The inner top end flaps 21 each contain panels 25 and 26 of ink which is glue-rejecting, or in other words, which will prevent the adherence of the outer flaps to the inner flaps in the area of the panels 25 and 26. The glue-rejecting ink is well known to the art.

In the assembly of the container, the four ends and sides are folded to a rectangular form and secured by sealing tape 14 or by other securing means known to the art. The bottom flaps 16 are folded inwardly and secured. as by gluing, but these in turn may be stapled or taped. The container is then ready to be filled. After filling, the flaps 21 are folded inwardly and glue placed on the flaps 17 and 18 which are folded and secured to tabs 22.. The glue-rejecting inked panels 25 and 26 prevent adherence of glue in the areas of these panels and this is important for eflicient opening of the box. The two panels 26-26 permit the insertion of fingers under the outer flap to begin the opening process. The panels 25-25 prevent the adherence of the outer panels to the inner panels in these areas so that the tabs 22-22 will tear off more easily.

An alternative form of the container is shown at Fig. 7 wherein the perforated line 19 is not included, so that the container may be opened as easily as the preferred embodiment, but no perforated line is provided for removing the entire top for display purposes.

In order to open the container all that is necessary is to insert a finger between the two outer flaps and lift smartly. The inner flaps then separate on the lines of perforation 24 and the container opens neatly, easily and quickly. The thus opened flaps 17 and 18 may be easily removed by tearing along the perforations 19.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the container may be made of any material suitable for the purpose, including corrugated and solid fiber boxboard, and while the invention is directed primarily to a shipping container, it may apply as well to a folding carton. It will also be understood that while the container illustrated is a regular slotted car-ton having a boxmakers corner, the invention may be applied to other types of containers having overlapping closure flaps. If desirable, the invention can be applied to both the top and the bottom of a container.

The container is made in the usual manner and with the usual equipment utilized for making regular slotted containers except that provision must be made for the slots 23-23 and the perforated lines 19-19 and 24-24. The preferable method involves a small perforating wheel free to rotate on the corrugator so that the board is perforated continuously as it comes off the corrugator. The slots 23-23 are then made on the printer-slotter. Alternatively, both the perforating and the slotting can be done on a printer-slotter. The glue-rejecting ink is printed on the box blank in the customary manner.

The advantages of the present invention are many. The invention provides a container which is easily folded and closed. By means which are so inexpensive as to be negligible, there is provided a container which may be easily opened by pull on either of the top flaps. This is accomplished without a tear strip or any other extraneous device. It is also possible by the present invention to easily remove substantially the entire top of the box neatly so as to present an attractive appearance if used for display purposes. The invention eliminates the need for the use of any cutting tool. The invention further permits easy reclosure of the top after opening. The invention can be installed in regular manufacturing operations. The container after being opened and having the contents removed provides a neat carry-out box for customer use.

While the drawings indicate the slot 23 forming two unequal tabs 22, it is within the scope of the invention to move these slots to one side or the other to the extent that the position generally may be described as substantially midway between the lateral edges thereof. A desirable reason for a slightly off-center slot is that if the outer flaps do not come completely together, a portion of the underneath tabs will cover the space between the upper flaps so that the goods will not be uncovered. Another reason is that one of the outer flaps may, if desired, be glued to four of the tabs 22 to two of which the other outer flap is also glued. This glue line extending to the second set of tabs if used at all, should be relatively narrow so that the container can still be opened by finger pull. Alternatively, it will be understood that it is with in the scope of the invention to move the slot 23 off cen ter accompanied by the use of a top flap 17 of a different width than top flap 18. This, however, is somewhat less desirable since the container blank deviates from the rectangular.

It will be appreciated that substitutions and deviations from the description herein, particularly as applied to substitutes for slots, extent of the slots, interchangeability of side and end walls, and the parallel relation of the perforated lines, as well as substitutes for perforated lines, will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. A container blank adapted to be erected to form a container for articles comprising a substantially rectangular sheet of paperboard having four side-by-side panels defined by two opposite edges of the blank and three spaced parallel fold lines parallel to and intermediate said opposite edges, each panel having flaps extending respectively from opposite edges of the panel and defined from the panel by fold lines at right angles to said firstmentioned spaced parallel fold lines, the flap on the corresponding edge of each of two alternate panels having a perforated tear line extending between the lateral edges of said flap closer to the fold line defining the flap from the panel than to the outer edge of the flap, and a slot in each of said two perforated flaps slightly offset from midway between the lateral edges thereof, and extending substantially perpendicularly from the outer edge of the respective fiap to the said perforated tear line therein thus forming a total of four tabs, two of which are larger than the other two, said larger tabs having a panel of glue-rejecting ink at the corners thereof adjacent the said slots and the outer edge of the said flaps, panels of glue-rejecting ink on the said alternate panels between the fold line and the perforated tear line, the width of each of said other two alternate flaps being less than the distance in the larger tabs between the slot and a lateral edge, and the combined widths of the flaps in each of the two sets of alternate flaps being substantially equal to the length of a flap in the other pair of flaps.

2. An easy opening paperboard rectangular container for articles comprising two oppositely disposed end walls, two oppositely disposed side walls, a bottom and a top, said top comprising end flaps of substantially equal size extending from the said end walls, respectively, and folded toward one another with their outer edges substantially abutting, a perforated tear line extending between the lateral edges of said end flaps closer to the top edge of said respective end walls than to the outer edges of said end flaps, a slot in each of said end flaps slightly offset from midway between the lateral edges thereof, and extending substantially perpendicularly from the outer edges of said end flaps to the said perforated tear lines therein, thus forming a total of four tabs, two of which are larger than the other two, said larger tabs having a panel of gluerejecting ink at the corners thereof adjacent the said slots and the outer edge of said flaps, side flaps of substantially equal size extending, respectively, from the upper edges of said side walls, said side flaps being folded toward one another to overlie said end flaps with their outer edges substantially abutting, and said side flaps being fastened to said underlying end flaps only in the area of said end flaps between the said perforated lines and the outer edges thereof, by means of panels of glue-rejecting ink on said end flaps in the area between the said perforated lines and the folded edges of said flaps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,113,927 Alfred Apr. 12, 1938 2,148,480 Larsh Feb. 28, 1939 2,162,556 Lagaard June 13, 1939 2,287,520 Freshwaters June 23, 1942 2,713,454 Nute et al. July 19, 1955 2,753,104 Wagner July 3, 1956 

